Fake NBA Trade of the Day 5/21/16: Tony Parker to Detroit

Every day, Pick and Popovich will post one fake trade and explain why it makes sense for every team involved to make it. There are no parameters beyond fitting within the salary cap. Sometimes the trades will involve stars, others role players. They are not grounded in actual rumors, they just make sense on paper. During the 2016 NBA Playoffs, each week will feature seven fake trades of one star player. This is Tony Parker Week.

San Antonio Spurs Receive: Detroit Pistons Receive:

2016 1st Round Pick Tony Parker

Why San Antonio would make this trade: A mid-first round pick for San Antonio is like a top-three pick for any other team. Their last one was Kawhi Leonard. This would not end well for the rest of the NBA.

Why Detroit would make this trade: The Pistons are in a weird place with their cap space. They want to spend it, but after adding Tobias Harris don’t have a particularly pressing need to use it on. Well, their backup point guards were terrible all year, Parker fits neatly into their cap space, and having a former Finals MVP on your team is never a bad thing. So why not?